Dundee rebels released after row with club

Dundee have finally parted company with Italian pair Patrizio Billio and Marco de Marchi after a dispute which has raged for 18 months.

Though both were contracted to the club for another year, FIFA stepped in to end one of the most unsavoury episodes in the history of the Dens Park club.

While there are loose ends to be tied, not least possible compensation packages for both players, a club spokesman expressed relief at their departure.

"We no longer have to pay the pair £25,000 a month," said Niall Scott.

However, it is fair to say that the club might have been more diplomatic. Such was the insensitivity with which the pair were ostracised that questions were raised in the Italian parliament.

There was also, as described by Peter Marr, the chief executive, "a very public court case", from which Marr's son Paul - a director of the club - walked free after being tried for allegedly aiding an assault on Billio.

Billio and de Marchi were signed on free transfers by the former Dundee manager Ivano Bonetti. But Billio, having joined from Italian club Ancona in 1999, and former Juventus and Roma player de Marchi, who left Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem in favour of Dens Park a year later, clashed with their compatriot.

While de Marchi incurred the wrath of Bonetti for indiscipline as well as his lack of urgency to return from injury, Billio's transgression was much less clear.

One theory popular with supporters was his reluctance to be his manager's "eyes and ears" in the dressing room.

With Bonetti's sacking last month came hope that Jim Duffy, the new manager, might give both players a fresh start but that will now be elsewhere, with Dundee insisting on transfer fees.

On a brighter note for the club, the Argentinian goalkeeper Julian Speroni, who impressed last season, has agreed a new-three year contract.